Taste

Thassos has numerous delights to tempt even the least adventurous eater. At the same time, the island offers delicious surprises for even the most seasoned traveller. By exploring all the villages and their local tavernas, or by eating with locals, you will get to know new tastes and aromas that are unique and extraordinary.

In Natasa Hotel, our primary concern is to offer you, healthy and tasty dining choices, as well as moments of culinary delight, in our restaurant. Excellent agricultural products from Thassos Island, carefully selected recipes and the cooking mastery of Panagiotis are the main ingredients of our tasty meals. Hotel’s main restaurant serves breakfast in buffet style on daily basis. Guests can also enjoy local dishes and delicacies for dinner in our buffet with extra charge.

Local produce

Food and drink products made in Thassos are produced with traditional methods. They taste great and are excellent for your health. Some of the island's delicious products are made purely, for local consumption and can be found only on the island.

Our family ( Panagiotis, Froso, Anastasia & Thodoris ), has a long tradition in producing its own olives & olive oil and “ tsipouro “. We cultivate and look after the olive trees and the vineyards with love, and plenty of personal work, using the purest methods. Anastasia, with studies as Agricultiursit and Food Technician, supervises all the procedure to secure the best possible result! All the products can be found on the spot for inhouse consumption while they are also used in our dishes.

Even though we do not fish ourselves, during summer, we cook & serve carefully selected fish. On daily basis, directly from the fishing boat, we choose fresh seafood to buy for our hotel. The same applies for our desserts, which are either homemade by Froso, or supplied by local food associations and the honey we use, which is supplied by a local producer.

Olives & Olive Oil

Olive trees are in abundancy on Thassos and occupy a big part of the island's population. The production of olive oil is still the second source of income (after the tourism industry ) for many Thassians. This fact partially explains why the olive tree is considered a blessed tree and no part of it is allowed to be wasted. Its fruit, the olive, is edible but it is also used for producing olive oil. The leaves are used as food for animals and livestock. The wood is used to warm homes during Winter, but also as raw material for beautiful works of art.

Thassos produces what locals call a non "twisted" olive, a distinct wrinkled black olive under the name of "Thassian Throuba Olive." Throuba olives are medium-sized and very rich in quality, used to produce extra virgin olive oil with very low acidity. Lower acidity levels in the olive oil result in better quality, color, aroma, and taste, giving Thassos olive oil its superior characteristics.

Olive tree is an easy to cultivate tree, as long as the land and the climate is suitable. It does not need much care, and the harvest takes place during autumn, and this is the main reason why Thassians ( and many other areas in Greece ) combine olive production with tourism! For us, that we run a family business, without many workers and employees, this is very important, since we can use whole family’s human resources during the «elaiomazoma» ( olive harvesting period ).

Once staying in Natasa hotel, you will have the chance to taste our delicate olive oil during dinner time in your food and salads.

Tsipouro

The locals love producing a strong and tasty alcoholic beverage called "tsipouro" ( all-natural product of distilled grapes ). So does our family for years now!

After the island's grape harvest at the end of October and the beginning of November, big pots are put to work to produce this traditionally prized drink. Certain flavourings like anise and fruit are added to give a unique mild and fruity flavour. It's the drink of choice for many of the locals because it's made of all-natural ingredients and contains no chemicals, making hangovers and other bad side effects virtually non-existent.

When you come Natasa Hotel, you will have the opportunity to try our homemade tsipouro, either by the pool during lunch time, accompanied by a dish of salty appetisers and a variety of salted or smoked seafood, or during dinner.

Seafood

The crystal-clear sea surrounding Thassos is blessed with an abundance of fish and other species that are freshly caught and offered at the island's marketplaces. Typically, local tavernas offer these mouth-watering delicacies grilled or fried with a touch of olive oil, vinegar or lemon.

Panagiotis, has its own secret recipe to cook every type of fish, always following the above rule:

Additional ingredients, such as sauces, are simply unnecessary when the seafood is naturally so tasty. Either fried or on the oven, they are very nutritious, and taste great.

Be sure to accompany your delicious seafood dish or appetiser with an intoxicating glass of Tsipouro or Ouzo for a magical experience that will make you feel like you're in heaven!

Sweets

The sweets of Thassos have a special flavour originating from their secret ingredient; Thassian honey. The most well-known among these is the walnut sweet, made of walnuts that are picked early in the spring to make a very tasty and nutritious sweet. Other sweets are made from fig, pumpkin, orange, rose, and quince.

Other traditional sweets include "halvas", usually made in the village of Kallirachi, as well as the "saragli", a traditional homemade pastry for pies, mixed with honey and walnuts, and baked in the oven.

Honey

Honey making ( mainly pine tree honey ) is a well-developed industry on the island of Thassos.

Honey is a completely natural product and is made locally in the purest way. You can buy it from independent producers from all around the island who sell various honey and beeswax products, as well as pollen and traditional Thassian sweets that are made solely with local Thassian honey. Apart from the island's delicious honey, you can also find & try honeycomb, royal jelly, and propolis.

Our family does not own any hives, thus we buy the honey we use form a local producer, friend of us. The valuable gift of the bees, the tasty honey, is carefully bottled and offered to you as “a gift to remember us”, upon departure!